Can you do Universal in 1 day? Sure you can! March 5-7 whirlwind trip

It all started with a new airline arriving at our airport. Frontier announced they were coming back to Grand Rapids with prices starting at $34 for one way tickets. I hadn't started X-mas shopping for my husband yet. The last trip him (Jeremy) and I (Lori) took alone was before the Minions were born. "Light Bulllbbb"...

I bought the tickets and paid for specific seats ($173), but I took a gamble and did not pay for any bags what so ever, I thought we can rough it and use a personal item each. Yikes! We'll see if we make it. Next I searched for an onsite hotel that was reasonably priced. I knew the biggest expense would be park tickets so I had to cut corners other ways. I couldn't find anything less than $400 for a room at Cabana Bay. I researched other hotels. I was trying to avoid renting a car, so I looked at partner hotels and thought maybe we could walk or shuttle. Thanks to the Disboards I found a website that helps bid on hotels. I took another gamble and bid on a hotel I was hoping was the Doubletree at the entrance to Universal. The stars lined up and I got it for $169 for 2 nights!

Ok, now I just wait for X-mas to surprise him... only 4 months, no problem. My husband rarely watches a commercial, or even lets one exist in my house. Channel is changed immediately. On the rare occasion he drops the ball on this, and a Universal, or Royal Caribbean, or Disney commercial comes on I hear, 'stupid universal...or stupid royal Caribbean...stupid Disney'. Like they are taunting him... oh its so hard not to laugh out loud!

Christmas morning...The tree is lit, the fake fireplace is roaring on the tv, kids are opening presents. We always wait until the kids are done so we don't miss anything. I'm about to burst. A little worried the kids will be upset they aren't going when they find out, but hopefully in their x-mas haze they won't be bothered. Finally its time. Our turn. He starts opening his package I got for him on Etsy that has an acceptance letter from Hogwarts with the dates we are going and the Marauder's Map and a little wand. Just to be sure he understood, I put a card in there that laid out our plans. He read it, sets it to the side and just watches me open things. My mind starts going...ok have I ever done this in the 17 years we've been together, um no, isn't that good that I'm still capable of surprise? He loves Harry Potter, loves Orlando... ok maybe just tired? Well my balloon is deflated, but hey, I still get to go to Orlando! The rest of the day was typical, cleaned up, snacked, watched movies, napped and he got stared at a lot. I waited, and waited, I didn't want to bring it up, I didn't want to cry on X-mas.

2 weeks later....(please say that in SpongeBob speak if you know the lingo!) He says, 'where are we staying?' me-'Doubletree across from Universal' him-'what airline are we flying?' me-'Frontier' him-'out of Detroit?' me-'no they are coming to GR and I got an amazing price!' I saw him perk up, oh man, this is why the silence, he doesn't realize I didn't spend a fortune on this trip. Ok I'm excited again. Him-'do we have a car?' me-'no, I thought we could Uber.' I knew this probably wouldn't fly, he's old school and likes his freedom. Him-'thank you!' me-'my pleasure!'

A few weeks later we look at cars and find a Mustang for $84. Maybe we're youngish enough to pull it off. Now we wait....there is no grumbling when a Universal commercial pops up and the kids are not mad we're going without them. Wow! Now my only concern is, can I fit my clothes and toiletries in a personal bag for the flight. Oh and I'm of course going to need to bring a gift home for the kids. Can it be done? Stay tuned....

The weeks go by and we talk about where we want to eat and what we want to get done in the 41 hours we will be in Florida. We watch the snow fly and the temps drop so far our pipes freeze. We never fly in the winter because it seems like a gamble, so I was a little nervous.

In the meantime I research Frontier because I'm not familiar, we usually fly Southwest. I read plenty of reviews of how strict they are with baggage dimensions and how small and thin the seats are. I find 2 bags that are the proper personal carry item size and imagine what I will look like without my products. I'm not into fashion, but I do like my products. This may get ugly!

The week before arrives and the forecast looks good. I always pack the day before and no sooner because I'm am a habitual double checker. I will drive myself crazy rechecking. I lay my clothes out, sandals, sundress, a couple of tops, a pair of shorts. That should be good, it doesn't get cold in Florida! Ok now for my curling iron and hair stuff and make up and body wash and deodorant and perfume and.... 'honey, how's your bag look??' He had room, but only enough space to bring back gifts. Well who needs curls? Curling iron, gone. Hairspray gone. Hotels usually have shampoo and conditioner. Oh man I hope they have plenty of conditioner. Hotels do not have body wash, but I suppose I can try bar soap. They did it in the olden days, I can give it a shot. Bag is set now, with a little room for gifts to boot! Well done! I hope the kids appreciate the sacrifice to get their loot back home to them!

Travel day!! We get our son ready for school and say our goodbyes. Clean the house a little. Play with the dog. Sit and look at each other. We have a few hours before we are to leave. DH says 'lets just go, I cant wait any more!' We go and do a little shopping, grab a sandwich and we head to the airport. We plan on parking in the garage because the forecast says we will be coming back to snow. Parking garage is full. So we park out farther and will just deal with it when we get back. The previous day I downloaded the Frontier app and checked in and got our boarding passes through the app. We got through security quite fast, our airport is rather small. No problems using the boarding passes on my phone. Later we thought next time I should screen shot and send his pass to his phone so I don't have to help him on mine. It was no problem, but might've been a bit faster. I did notice that they were not sizing anyone's bags in the example box, but they were announcing that if carry on bags weren't shown as bought on boarding passes and they have them, there will be a charge. The flight was on time, and expected to arrive early. The seats were tight, but I was ready for it. It wasn't a huge difference than what we were used to. He is 6'2" and was reasonably comfortable. The tray tables were tiny, we had a laugh over that. We did notice the overhead bins were quite empty, which is not a site we are used to seeing. They serve drinks and snacks for a fee, so we bought something before we boarded. This airline is definitely a get what you pay for kind of thing, but if you go knowing that, you won't be disappointed.

We land about 20 min early and head straight for the car rental area. We step outside expecting a blast of heat like we usually feel. Hmm, that's strange, just warm but no blast. It still felt great compared to the bone chilling weather we've had this year. DH is second in line at Budget and checks in. They ask him if he wants the Mustang he reserved or a convertible VW bug. He thought they were funny. He got the keys to the Mustang (which I believe the total was $104). We found it. It was white, had blacked out windows, there was some kind of mark on the bumper, we opened the doors and it stunk. I went back to the counter, and here's where I went wrong, I should've asked for a different car, but I just said I don't want to be charged for these things. He said 'no problem, let the person you see at the gate know and they will make a note of it.' We did just that and we were off. I did not want to start a vacation with wasting time complaining and demanding for something different. We had to make every minute count. The car was dirty and I tried not looking too closely at things. The dark windows were hard to get used to but we just made the best of it and headed to the hotel. It was 4:30ish and we were worried we would hit rush hour traffic. We didn't hit too much traffic and enjoyed seeing all the sights that have become familiar over the years. The Doubletree was very easy to find, and a welcome sight. We pull up and a man opens my door and let me just say, I had a hard time trying to climb out of such a low car gracefully. I thought the guy deserved a tip for keeping a straight face! Oh this is going to be a good time!

Sounds good so far! As two fifty somethings here that had Camaros as young people, we rented a Camaro a few trips ago and had a hard time getting in and out, too!! I told hubby that the midlife crisis sports car won't happen!

I pick my dignity up off of the ground and head inside. The lobby is quite large. There is a restaurant to the left and Starbucks across from that. In the middle there is a lot of seating. The check in desk is to the right. There are only a couple of people checking in, I get in line and it dawns on me, I'm not sure what card to put on file, so I text DH who is figuring out the parking situation. I get a text back, 'mom, I have no idea what you're talking about!' oops, sorry son! DH comes in as I walk up to the counter laughing. I'm tired, I'm hungry, I'm happy, just feeling downright silly. Poor lady that has to deal with me, but she is a champ and bless her, she gives me warm cookies. I ask about the coupons that are offered for being a partner hotel to Universal, she kind of acted like she had never heard about it, but she referred me to the concierge which is behind me. We go over and get the coupon booklet and walk by a gift shop on the way to the elevators. We enter our room and I immediately do my routine bed bug check. 'All clear!' and we drop our stuff. We got a 6th floor room facing the back of the hotel. Our view was of a rooftop mostly, but we didn't care, we had warm cookies and a clean room. As I was eating the cookie I was thinking about going back down and asking how much a dozen would cost. They were so good. I knew dinner was around the corner, so I spared the lady at the front desk from having to deal with my silly self again. We freshen up and I put on a cute little summer dress I bought for this trip. We head out to the parking lot and fall into our very low seats with laughter. We did the self park option, which was $19 a night, and we use our room key to open the gate.

We decided to go to Disney Springs for the evening. We do enjoy it there and every time we go it has something new. We parked by the west side, which was a first for us, usually its by market place. We enter and head towards the right. Only mission tonight was to get dinner and maybe some treats to take back. I do like the new Disney Springs, it is beautiful. I find it a little hard to navigate though, I don't like to miss anything, and if you don't follow every little turn, you could miss a lot. The shopping area with all the high end stores is beautiful, but we don't spend a lot of time in there. We watch the sun set by the balloon and it is gorgeous. We decide to hold off on dinner and just hit our favorite spots. The Christmas store, Mickeys pantry, the art of Disney, Goofy's candy co, then we were starting to feel the burn of hunger. I didn't make any reservations, so we decided to try Cookes of Dublin. We discover the place is packed inside and out and there is a line at the counter going out the door. No fish and chips for me. That's ok, we can head back down to Earl of Sandwich and see how busy they are. They aren't at all. I give my order to my husband and head to the Daily Poutine. Yes I do love it, Golden steak fries with cheese curds and hot brown gravy. I'm hoping it will warm me up, I've been shivering and thinking this is not the Florida I know! (to be fair the Florida I know is in August, never met her before in March! I did check the weather before we came down and it looked great, 70's and 80's, but didn't think about nighttime.) I got classic poutine and got DH Italian, which has mozzarella and Bolognese sauce. I also got a watermelon lemonade, then realized maybe I should've gotten the fireball sangria they have on the menu, that would've warmed my insides. We ate at some tables by the poutine stand and watched a crowd in awe in front of a living statue. I don't get it, but it was fun to watch the people that were fascinated. We finish and head to the Disney store to see if we can find some treasures for the kids. It was very difficult to move in there, it was usually busy, but this was crazy. I made my way in while DH goes to the restroom. We noticed earlier the windows to part of the store were blacked out over by the stich side, but figured they were just redoing the windows. Now going in, I realize the store is blocked off half way. I must have missed this info on the Disboards! I get a text saying 'yeah I'll see you outside when you're done!' I was done, my bubble was being compromised big time lol. I had read how great Sprinkles bakery was so we headed that way. There was a line out the door. We kind of poked our heads in and didn't see much that made us want to wait. I will be fair and say we gave a look of about 15 seconds around the place and I don't quite understand why the counter has to be so close to the door and the line go out the door. Maybe we were full and tired and should have given it a chance, but I don't see how a cupcake could be that amazing. We considered doing the cupcake atm, but we just weren't feeling it. We said 'goodbye for now' to Disney Springs and headed back to our stinky low riding sweet Mustang.

We headed out just in time to see the fireworks from Epcot. From what we saw they were beautiful. We got on the highway with little traffic and he floored it. I laughed and said 'you love this car huh?' 'I hate it!' he says. 'It's way too small for me and we need a lift just to climb out! Even for you!' (I'm 5' on a good day) Ok, check this car off the mid-life crisis list... We head to the Wal Mart on Turkey Lake Rd to get something to eat in the morning and a few drinks. We pull in the parking lot and think what in the world? The parking lot was full at 9:30ish at night. We park and make the hike inside. It is super busy! We think of leaving and I notice the self scan check outs were not busy, so we go ahead and look around. There is a whole section of shirts and gifts of Disney and Universal merchandise. We get a few things and head back up front and it truly reminded me of black Friday crowds. No joke. There were only a few lanes open and I would guess each one had at least 20 people per line. I figured it was people getting groceries and such, there were appliances, furniture, housewares, etc. in their carts. It was strange. We went down to the self scan and lines were just as long. Oh boy, we're out of here. Coming in and out people were driving the wrong way up and down the lanes in the parking lot. I look up a Walgreens and there is one just past our hotel. Should have been the plan all along, in and out. Lesson learned. Back to the Doubletree we roll out of the car and walk past the desk that has those delicious cookies... no keep walking, I'm cold and just want to get in our warm room and snuggle up and get some sleep. We walk in our clean, cold room. Oh man, air conditioning. Get that adjusted and everything set for tomorrow. I hope we can sleep well, Universal finally!! Minions, SpongeBob, Homer, the Lorax, Hello Kitty, Harry Potter and Volde....I mean He Who Must Not Be Named. We will see how much we can fit in one day.

Rest we did not get. We had a room with 2 queen beds, and we have a queen at home, but for some reason all night long we kept bumping into each other. The bed was a little too firm as well. The park was open from 9 to 8 that day, so we decided to get up at 7:30. We gladly woke to the alarm and got ourselves freshened and prepped. We were not a bit hungry for the things we had suffered to get the night before. So we sit and wait. The previous day I showed my DH the sidewalk we will take to walk over to Universal. He didn't like the looks of the road we would have to cross, it's very busy and many lanes. He said 'let's just drive.' I started to tell him I heard on the Dis that it can be done, then I imagined a caveat with 'except for that one couple'. I said 'how about we uber?' As I mentioned, he is old school and has never used this crazy thing called uber. I built a long list of reasons why this was better than driving our stinky low rider. I think I got him with 'it's cheaper than parking'. We couldn't wait any longer and called for a car at 8. It arrived at 8:09 and we were off! The car was clean and nice and the driver didn't even laugh at us (or at least not in front of us) for going such a short distance. The charge was $7.10.

We were dropped off and went up some stairs to a bag check area. We got through very quick, I only had a cross body purse. Off through city walk, we notice new things since we have been last. Voodoo donuts? They aren't open yet, still under construction. Doh! We decide to start in Diagon Alley this morning so we head to Universal gates. We pass under the Universal Studios sign (archway?) We see the gates and they are only a few people deep. Wow, we really are early. The sun is shining in the very middle turnstiles, it's a beautiful day. The closer we get, the turnstiles on the right and the left that are not illuminated by the sun have lines all the way back to the buildings on both sides. We look at each other, what are we missing? In the middle where the sun is shining, a few people in each line, on each side without sun many many deep. I walk up in the middle behind two ladies and ask, 'ok do you guys have special tickets or something?' They laugh and say 'no, we have no idea why nobody is behind us or in the middle. It wasn't hot out, so people weren't avoiding the sun. We stay put and make friends with people around us and laugh about the lines.

As far as strategy for the day goes, Harry Potter is priority. DH is not a thrill rider. I am as long as it does not go upside down. I told him I would like to go on Shrek at some point because I had never been. Our youngest is not a rider at all, so I've usually been the one to stay out with him if it's a ride my DH was actually willing to ride. I also wanted to do minions on a real seat instead of the bench seat in the front, that I've only been on with my son. We really wanted to be carefree and take us where the wind blew. We usually have a laid out plan on vacations down to where to eat. None of that today! I also must say, that's what Universal kind of promises. You don't need to do the planning and reservations that Disney tends to make you feel. Sure you can do the ultimate tour plans and make reservations at Universal if it makes you rest at night. But not today my friend...NOT today.

It doesn't feel like we are at the turnstiles very long before they open. I'm pretty sure they open early, but I did not look at the time. We head to Gru's house first to see what it is like not to stand in line for an hour before he lets us in. We are the first ride of the day and feel like, wow this is what people with express pass must feel like. We are thrilled. But we know this will probably be the last break we get today. Sitting in the seats was much better than the bench, but it did tweak my back a little. Getting older sucks. We leave and DH says lets run and do Shrek, I said 'no lets get to Diagon Alley, I'm sure it's getting packed by the minute, we can do Shrek later. We go straight there and go around the brick wall. I see something I have never seen before, what is going on??? We stand in awe at the picture we only see online of an almost empty Diagon alley. We take a selfie with no one behind us in the shot. We could spread our arms out and not touch anyone. Don't get me wrong, there are people milling about, but this is amazing. I tell him I would like to head to Gringotts while it's quiet and maybe I wont have to wait very long. I ask him one last time to ride with me, but he says 'no way'. 'Ok, at least go in with me and you can leave at the end'. Wait time is 5 min. We walk right in and walk right through. We take a couple of pics, but don't want to irritate the people behind us. I am excited and hope the ride won't break down like last time I was here. I want to convince him to ride, but the last time I convinced him to ride something was the mine train at MK and after I saw that video, he looked so unhappy I couldn't do that to him again. At the end we said our goodbyes and I headed up the stairs. I tell the TM one and he sends me to a line. Its so funny when I get sorry looks from people that I am alone. Oh that poor girl, having to ride all by herself! LOL! The ride was fantastic and it didn't break down. I go out of the shop to find my DH. I am so thankful he's never been too embarrassed to carry my purse. Today he's lucky and its my tiny one though. We lock eyes and in the haze make our way to each other...'hello can I buy you a butterbeer?' I say 'why sure! Thank you!' and the rest was history....

Just kidding. Well he did say hello, there was a locking of the eyes, and yes there was butterbeer. Haze, that might've been put in for dramatics, history, well it is in the past so yes it was history.

Rest we did not get. We had a room with 2 queen beds, and we have a queen at home, but for some reason all night long we kept bumping into each other. The bed was a little too firm as well. The park was open from 9 to 8 that day, so we decided to get up at 7:30. We gladly woke to the alarm and got ourselves freshened and prepped. We were not a bit hungry for the things we had suffered to get the night before. So we sit and wait. The previous day I showed my DH the sidewalk we will take to walk over to Universal. He didn't like the looks of the road we would have to cross, it's very busy and many lanes. He said 'let's just drive.' I started to tell him I heard on the Dis that it can be done, then I imagined a caveat with 'except for that one couple'. I said 'how about we uber?' As I mentioned, he is old school and has never used this crazy thing called uber. I built a long list of reasons why this was better than driving our stinky low rider. I think I got him with 'it's cheaper than parking'. We couldn't wait any longer and called for a car at 8. It arrived at 8:09 and we were off! The car was clean and nice and the driver didn't even laugh at us (or at least not in front of us) for going such a short distance. The charge was $7.10.

We were dropped off and went up some stairs to a bag check area. We got through very quick, I only had a cross body purse. Off through city walk, we notice new things since we have been last. Voodoo donuts? They aren't open yet, still under construction. Doh! We decide to start in Diagon Alley this morning so we head to Universal gates. We pass under the Universal Studios sign (archway?) We see the gates and they are only a few people deep. Wow, we really are early. The sun is shining in the very middle turnstiles, it's a beautiful day. The closer we get, the turnstiles on the right and the left that are not illuminated by the sun have lines all the way back to the buildings on both sides. We look at each other, what are we missing? In the middle where the sun is shining, a few people in each line, on each side without sun many many deep. I walk up in the middle behind two ladies and ask, 'ok do you guys have special tickets or something?' They laugh and say 'no, we have no idea why nobody is behind us or in the middle. It wasn't hot out, so people weren't avoiding the sun. We stay put and make friends with people around us and laugh about the lines.

As far as strategy for the day goes, Harry Potter is priority. DH is not a thrill rider. I am as long as it does not go upside down. I told him I would like to go on Shrek at some point because I had never been. Our youngest is not a rider at all, so I've usually been the one to stay out with him if it's a ride my DH was actually willing to ride. I also wanted to do minions on a real seat instead of the bench seat in the front, that I've only been on with my son. We really wanted to be carefree and take us where the wind blew. We usually have a laid out plan on vacations down to where to eat. None of that today! I also must say, that's what Universal kind of promises. You don't need to do the planning and reservations that Disney tends to make you feel. Sure you can do the ultimate tour plans and make reservations at Universal if it makes you rest at night. But not today my friend...NOT today.

It doesn't feel like we are at the turnstiles very long before they open. I'm pretty sure they open early, but I did not look at the time. We head to Gru's house first to see what it is like not to stand in line for an hour before he lets us in. We are the first ride of the day and feel like, wow this is what people with express pass must feel like. We are thrilled. But we know this will probably be the last break we get today. Sitting in the seats was much better than the bench, but it did tweak my back a little. Getting older sucks. We leave and DH says lets run and do Shrek, I said 'no lets get to Diagon Alley, I'm sure it's getting packed by the minute, we can do Shrek later. We go straight there and go around the brick wall. I see something I have never seen before, what is going on??? We stand in awe at the picture we only see online of an almost empty Diagon alley. We take a selfie with no one behind us in the shot. We could spread our arms out and not touch anyone. Don't get me wrong, there are people milling about, but this is amazing. I tell him I would like to head to Gringotts while it's quiet and maybe I wont have to wait very long. I ask him one last time to ride with me, but he says 'no way'. 'Ok, at least go in with me and you can leave at the end'. Wait time is 5 min. We walk right in and walk right through. We take a couple of pics, but don't want to irritate the people behind us. I am excited and hope the ride won't break down like last time I was here. I want to convince him to ride, but the last time I convinced him to ride something was the mine train at MK and after I saw that video, he looked so unhappy I couldn't do that to him again. At the end we said our goodbyes and I headed up the stairs. I tell the TM one and he sends me to a line. Its so funny when I get sorry looks from people that I am alone. Oh that poor girl, having to ride all by herself! LOL! The ride was fantastic and it didn't break down. I go out of the shop to find my DH. I am so thankful he's never been too embarrassed to carry my purse. Today he's lucky and its my tiny one though. We lock eyes and in the haze make our way to each other...'hello can I buy you a butterbeer?' I say 'why sure! Thank you!' and the rest was history....

Just kidding. Well he did say hello, there was a locking of the eyes, and yes there was butterbeer. Haze, that might've been put in for dramatics, history, well it is in the past so yes it was history.

I leave the gift shop from Gringotts and notice it's quite a bit busier out but still not bad. I find DH and tell him I need a butterbeer in my belly (please say that in Shrek's voice, it enhances this very wordy trip report). We walk right up and get a frozen butterbeer, I have a -close my eyes- moment and then I nod and we can go explore. We checked out the owls that I had never seen before, then I solved a two year old mystery on how I lost 14 of my family members last time we were here. We all entered a shop that is right inside of the brick entryway, well I was looking at things and looked up and everyone was gone. Apparently they all snuck out the back door through a sweet shop that I was oblivious to. Flash forward to present day... we entered the sweetshop, I said 'I don't remember this' then we put the pieces together as we walked deeper into the shop. Then onto Knockturn Alley and I notice he is speeding through, I say 'hey hon, let's slow down, I hear there are things to see and hear if you go slow and pay attention'. Ok, didn't see or hear anything. I should've researched a bit more I suppose. We get some gift ideas for the kids and DH spies a Malfoy mask on a plaque that he wants. His birthday is soon so I told him I would get it for him. He says he'll think about it. I asked about shipping it home and they looked it up and said it would be about $12. Perfect. I told her we would probably be back if he doesn't fall in love with something else throughout the day. We walk all throughout Diagon alley and he is ready to go to Hogwarts.

Kings Cross isn't very crowded. I believe the train was about a 10 min wait. There are details we notice this time around that we haven't before. Truth is the last trip here was stressful, we had brought a large group (14) of our extended family and we got wrapped up in assuring their happiness, we forgot about ours. This time is all about us! We got in line and immediately realize we were a bit spoiled last time having so much family because we had cars to ourselves. But this time we let children and their families in first so they could sit by the screens to watch. They blocked some of the view a bit (hazard of being short). It was fun watching their reactions though.

We've been to Hogwarts 3 times I think. Every time I arrive and get the first view, I'm still in awe. It's just so beautiful. We walk around and explore. Then arrive at the castle. It's a 10 min wait, whaaaat? How are we getting so lucky? We have only walked through the castle once before, about a year after it opened and it was lined up all the way outside. He mentions to me he doesn't remember much at all about it. So he was snapping pics right and left while trying to keep up with the people practically running to the ride. I said 'hey lets just slow down and they can pass us', but he wasn't having it. He said he could keep up. Now memory is a funny thing to me. When we got to the end just before he left me I was confused. I truly thought the castle was much bigger. The castle is designed so well that when we did have to stand in line for an hour, there was so much to look at, it felt much larger than it is. Maybe that's just my perception, but I had a moment with that. We arrived at the point for him to beat it and I send him away with my purse and say 'until we meet again...' I notice there is a moving sidewalk (is there a proper name for that?) to hop onto your seat and every time I see one of those on rides I think, ok this may get ugly. Always a little anxiety, but I haven't faltered yet. I also notice the seats you get into. You sit by yourself. It doesn't really matter if you use the single rider line because you can't see your friends anyway. It was interesting to me. I don't know why. I hop up in thinking thank goodness I don't have to ask for a boost. That would be awkward. The ride was fantastic and I didn't get queasy like I worried about. We meet up and decide to give the rest of the park a go.

Jurassic park theme starts hitting our ears as we cross the bridge. We walk down memory lane a bit...the car under the t-rex (where we have a few pics of my son at different heights) has changed. Then there's the JP river ride that my youngest bravely went on with his siblings, he refused Shrek earlier in the day, but went on this ride. DH and I waited for the kids in the gift shop hoping he was converted into an amusement park rider. We saw the kids coming, his face was stoic, he saw me and burst into tears. I considered it a miracle he gave the one fish two fish a shot later in the day. Poor guy. Anyways, we laugh about that memory and I look up. What is that?? There's some kind of ride I don't remember. That looks like fun. It has 2 seats and I think a canopy on it. I don't remember any of this. What's camp Jurassic? He didn't remember any of it either. We had to of been back here before. Why is it a mystery? It is possible the kids were melting down by the time we were back there and we just blacked it out. Like I said the memory is a funny thing.

We rounded the corner and we see Kong. I was kind of tired of riding things alone, but I do understand. I asked the TM about the ride. She described it and said they are bench seats that have no harness what so ever, its bumpy but not violent. She said 'has he been on Spiderman?, it's like that.' He agreed and I was thrilled. The wait was 5 min. I was starting to wonder if Magic Kingdom was having dollar days and everyone was over there. We get in line and there are people in front of us that was really loud and having a great time. We are walking along and I hear a scream, we are laughing at them and next thing I know I am the one screaming and they are laughing at me. I won't spoil why. The ride was good, but we don't know the movie, so we couldn't figure out if Kong is a good monkey or a bad one. Anyone? We leave the ride and it has gone up to a 20 minute wait.

Our tummies are a grumbling and now we need to decide what to do about it. Where do we choose? So many choices. Will we be happy, or will we regret not planning it out? Did I mention we are planners?

thank you, I appreciate that. I feel long winded and worry I'm cheating ppl out of pics. but 1, I'm not good with technology, have no clue how to get pics on here, I'm impressed with myself I figured out how to get my puppy on my avatar! and 2, I enjoyed myself on this trip and for the first time ever my husband took more pics than me. i am usually the one behind the camera and therefore probably don't enjoy things as much as I should. I imagine in the future my children will be showing their children and grandchildren pics of themselves and will be asked what does your mother look like and they will have to draw a picture! lol

Sounds great! Nice about no crowds! We don't take a lot of pictures anymore, either. We've been to the parks so many times and it's nice to just enjoy the moments and not worry about picture taking! I do like the Universal photo package we have. This way hubby and I can both get in the pictures- a lot of character shots, too!

We left Kong and decided we were ready for lunch. We thought about heading to city walk, but really wanted to maximize our time inside the parks since we only had 11 hours. To be perfectly honest, we do not have extremely high standards for food. We are fans of fast food, (I'll give you a moment to gasp)..... we just want it to be quality and at a safe temp. Of course we do appreciate and enjoy a nicer meal, but that is not what our hunt is for at this time. We check out Blondie's but nothing floats our boat there, we had sandwiches for dinner the night before. We walked in Comic Strip Café, eh, lets see what else there is. On our way we are stopped by a guy trying to show us about time shares, DH tells him we head home in the morning, and he left us alone after that info. We go through the Marvel area and its just so over the top animated it feels like you're walking in a movie. I'm not sure how else to describe it, but it gets me every time. I'm not into super heroes, but I always enjoy the bright colors and large animations and immersive buildings. Once again it's a walk through memory lane bringing my oldest son. Many years ago my son and I were in line to see Spiderman, and we were told they would only take 2 more people. We were the last to be seen. A lady grabbed her son, put him in front of us and pushed me. I was so upset I told her no and was about to say something to a TM but my 9 yr old grabbed my arm and said 'it's ok mom'. I was more upset than he was. He is such a good kid and at 22 now he still is calm cool and collected. Back to the hunt... We head to Seuss Landing and end up at Circus McGurkus. The menu is pretty close to the other places we passed up and we decide to go for it. We are the only ones there. I order a chicken sandwich and fries, DH orders a burger, fries and a Caesar salad and we get a refillable cup. It is cafeteria style. A man puts our sandwiches on the tray and moves it down to the fries and scoops out the very last of them on my tray. My DH smiles at me knowing I'm going to say something, but before I get a chance a lady comes over and dumps them from my tray and says I hope you don't mind waiting, we are making fresh. Nice, now I hope our sandwiches are just as fresh. I don't remember how much it was, but a small fortune I'm sure. I want to say almost $40. We have our choice of sitting anywhere. Really I can't believe how empty the parks are today, I have never been so lucky. We are laughing and talking and connecting like we haven't in, I'm embarrassed to say, years. The salad was good, cold, and crisp, I hate to say, so were the sandwiches. Kidding, but barely. They were ok. The normal me would take them back up and ask for new, no I take that back, the normal me would ask straight up while they were making the fries if they would make our sandwiches fresh as well. We were just having such a good time I just didn't want to harsh the vibe. We watched the birds fly in and out and come to our table asking for scraps. I may or may not have shared. The birds told me everyone does it, so I figured I would succumb and not break tradition. As we finished we watched some families coming in with little kids. Hearing their excitement of seeing the place was precious.

We go to the Seuss Sky Trolley and get in line, it says 10 min, but ended up being about 20. They were only running one side. We get quite the show while standing in line. There is a lady with a loose tank top that is open down the side and no bra. I do understand fashion mistakes, I do. I am infamous with my husband for wearing white pants and colored panties. He luckily tells me before I leave the house to go try again. Why did the group she was with not say anything? Maybe that's how they roll. I just don't think Dr. Seuss wanted the Who's to see that. We have a great time and of course see things that we don't remember which is always a treat.

I wanted to go explore the front of the park. We always breeze through when entering to start at the back of the park to beat the crowds, even before HP, and then we are usually dead tired walking back through the front to leave. We stop at a kiosk to get an Icy in our refillable cup. We pop in to Croissant Moon Bakery that I have read about here on the Dis. Immediately get hit with a burnt bread smell. I cover my nose as I quickly look at the goodies in the case and I have to leave. I'm a lightweight and can't stand burnt smells. My family jokes when I want toast that its just warmed up bread, pretty much! We walk through the shops and I try to figure out what to get the kids. DH asks why I keep looking up and out of the shop. I said 'I keep hearing a cat, an unhappy cat.' He looks at me like I'm crazy, but I'm used to that. We carry on. I get some gift ideas and decide lets head to Universal.

We go back through Seuss landing and smell the wonderful cotton candy. I don't eat cotton candy anymore because I cut my tongue once on some. No really, true story. No one believes me, but I was there, it was my tongue. We walk by the Pearl Factory and remember there is a coupon for that place back at the hotel. Oh well, we weren't impressed with the coupons anyway so we looked once and forgot about them. I stopped at a kiosk with jewelry and found some bracelets my daughter would like. I got 2 in different colors so I could have the one she doesn't want. Perfect, it fits in my itty bitty purse. We arrive at Hogsmeade Station, I don't look at the wait time because I'm starting to take for granted how slow it is. We go through line and have to wait on the stairs. I do think this is a bit of a design flaw for clumsy people like me that can't stand still. Don't worry I make it without taking anyone down with me. It is also awkward staring into the rear ends of people. What I'm trying to say is, standing in line on the stairs with sweaty strangers is not a good time. But I don't think we were there too long, we laughed through it. Found our seats with a nice family and head to London.